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And speaking on This Week Mr O’Leary insisted all types of attacks against staff and anti-social behaviour had increased to such an extent “the time was coming” when it would be necessary for rail workers to think seriously think about refusing to work on lines where they were targeted.

The latest figures have revealed since January last year there has been 1,000 separate cases of anti-social behaviour.

There were 492 recorded incidents in 2016 but by the start of 2017 that had grown to a 700 cases.

The data has confirmed a further jump so far this year with a 25% surge in comparison to the first five months of 2016.

And 20 separate assaults against Iarnrod Eireann workers have been recorded since the start of last year. And a plethora of assaults on the trains, attacks against staff, fights, criminal damage and aggressive behaviour have all been recorded.